Rocket baseball heats up in Illinois

The University of Toledo baseball team participated in the University of Illinois’ tournament this past weekend at Illinois Field in Champaign, IL. UT swept Southern Illinois University in two games: 8-7 on March 17 and 10-2 on March 18. The Rockets split a pair of games with the host of the tournament, the University of Illinois, losing 11-5 on March 17 and winning 10-4 on March 19. The Rocket record improves to 5-15 and the team has won four of their last five games.
Game One
The Rockets fell behind 2-0 against the Southern Illinois Salukis. Dalton Bollinger, a third-year infielder, hit a double to lead off and scored a run on an RBI double from third-year outfielder AJ Montoya.
The following inning, third-year fielder Matt Hansen and second-year infielder Riley Campbell each singled to reach base for the Rockets. Second-year outfielder Ross Adolph doubled next to the right field line to score Hansen. Montoya collected another double, allowing Campbell and Adolph to score to lead 4-2 after three innings.

The Salukis and Rockets each scored three runs in the fifth inning. Southern Illinois added another run in the following inning to cut Toledo’s lead to one, 7-6. In the bottom of the seventh inning, UT’s run came from a two-out solo home run to left field from fourth-year Josh Cales.
Toledo allowed one SIU run in the ninth inning and defeated the Salukis, 8-7. Fourth-year left-handed pitcher Steven Calhoun received his first win in the first decision of the season, and second-year left-handed pitcher Michael Jacob got the save.
Game Two
The first inning was quiet, but Illinois scored a run in both the second and third innings. A three-run third inning was what Toledo needed to take the lead, 3-2, and was the only time UT would lead.
Fourth-year catcher Corey Tipton was walked, first-year infielder Antonio Bennett singled and Hansen walked to load the bases. Campbell hit a three-run RBI triple to left-center field, scoring Tipton and Bennett, along with Hansen hustling from first base.
The Fighting Illini came back and fought. In the fourth inning, Illinois scored three runs in and six more runs were added by the seventh.
Toledo attempted comebacks in the fifth and ninth innings. Campbell hit an RBI single up the middle, allowing Hansen to score another Rocket run in the fifth. Tipton hit a sacrifice fly to score Cales, who was hit by a pitch. These were the last runs the Rockets would score.
Game Three
UT got the game started, scoring a pair of runs in the top of the third inning. Third-year infielder Brad Boss was hit by a pitch and scored on Hansen’s RBI double. Hansen advanced to third and scored a run after an SIU wild pitch.
SIU responded with a double that scored from two fielders’ choices, cutting Toledo’s lead, 2-1.
UT answered with a sixth inning run, increasing their lead, 3-1. Hansen was walked, Campbell bunted him to second and Bollinger hit a single down the left field line to score Hansen.
The eighth inning was when Toledo added seven runs to make it a 10-1 lead. First-year catcher Michael Ryan was walked, while Hansen and Campbell each singled to load the bases with no outs. Adolph was walked with bases loaded, which brought in another run, and Campbell scored on a wild pitch to extent the Rocket lead. Montoya was walked and the bases were loaded again.
Fourth-year pinch hitter Jacob Britt singled, scoring Bollinger. Bennett and Montoya both scored due to Boss’ being called safe on a throwing error. Boss and Britt added two runs when Ryan hit a two-run single.
Fifth-year left-handed pitcher Ross Achter received his second win of the season and leads the pitching lineup with two wins. Achter gave up a walk with a pair of hits while allowing two runs, one earned, all within six innings.
Game Four
The Rockets scored three runs in the second inning, beginning with Montoya’s single and first-year infielder Malave Bettinger’s walk. Ryan was walked and Bennett hit a three-run RBI double, making the score 3-0 in favor of UT.
Illinois responded with a run the following inning, but Toledo copied that in the fourth inning when Bettinger hit a one-out double and scored, 4-1, when Ryan plated him in.
The fifth inning was exciting for Montoya and the Rockets. Adolph and Bollinger both walked and scored with one out when Montoya hit his first home run of the season. Ryan went deep and scored Bettinger, who was hit by a pitch just a few at-bats earlier.
The Fighting Illini added their second run in the fifth inning, but the Rockets quickly added a run in the sixth inning from Bettinger’s RBI groundout. Two more Illini runs were plated in the seventh inning, and the team wouldn’t score any more.
UT’s fourth-year right-handed pitcher Sam Shutes (2-3) received his second consecutive win and pitched for six innings while allowing five hits and a pair of earned runs. Shutes also recorded his career-high-tying nine strikeouts. Fifth-year Caleb Schillace and fourth-year Jordan Kesson were the right-handed relief pitchers for the Rockets, who combined for pitching three innings, allowing three hits.
The midnight blue and gold will travel to South Bend, IN, for a matchup against Notre Dame March 22 with a 6:05 p.m. start time. The Rockets begin league play and the home season this coming weekend, March 24-26, against Northern Illinois University. First pitches are at 3:05 p.m. Friday, 1:05 p.m. Saturday, and 1:05 p.m. Sunday.